


No Matter What You Do

by cointricked



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Android Hank Anderson, Domestic Violence, Human Connor (Detroit: Become Human), M/M, Roleswap
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-17
Updated: 2018-07-17
Packaged: 2019-06-11 19:44:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15322896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cointricked/pseuds/cointricked
Summary: i. There was a grizzled detective standing at Connor's desk when he finally stumbled into work.ii. Chloe's screen was cool beneath her warm fingers.iii. A glass shattered upstairs, but Markus had been told not to move.iv. "Punch harder," North instructed. "Put all your force behind it."[A series of short moments about different characters in a roleswap AU inspired by the Human Connor + Android Hank AU!]





	No Matter What You Do

There was a handsome man standing at Connor's desk when he finally stumbled into work. A bonafide grizzled detective who'd walked out of a noir holofilm — complete with a five-o'clock shadow, a rumpled brown coat over his uniform, and hair long enough to pull back slightly into a short ponytail.

And a glowing blue light on his right temple.

"Connor Anderson," the detective android said. "I'm Hank. CyberLife sent me."

With a tilt of his head, Hank stuck out a hand. His grip on Connor's hand was _strong_ and unbelievably brisk; he didn't seem all that bothered at the fake, over-exaggerated wince of pain he got in return, a move Connor usually pulled out to make the bigger guys in the department think he was more of a pushover than he was.

But Hank's face was unreadable.

CyberLife must've built this guy to be some kind of _real_ hardass, Connor figured. A detective who didn't always play by the rules, who got things done the hard way if he had to, with pre-programmed moments of vulnerability to get suspects — and Connor? — to trust him.

It was a smart move. Objectively, Connor could appreciate why they'd pair an android like Hank up with him. Captain Fowler was always getting complaints that Connor didn't think enough about the humans they worked with. That he was too soft on the androids who'd been causing all kinds of trouble lately, more than anyone else in the department.

Soft enough to "need a babysitter", in Conrad's ever-unpleasant words.

"Nobody better to be a tough guy with androids than another android, right, CyberLife?"

"That's correct," Hank said, and Connor practically leapt out of his skin.

He hadn't meant to say that aloud — hadn't meant to say anything to Hank at all yet. This was off of his plan, a departure from the conversation he'd been hoping to have. Connor leaned back in his chair, ran his fingers through his hair, and raised a single eyebrow at Hank.

"Do you like dogs?"

✩

Chloe's screen was cool beneath her fingers.

There were Elijahs lounging all over the house that could have been keeping her company — fake imitations, ones she'd built from scratch. They walked and talked and had all the same mannerisms, the same laugh and the same casual ease, and she didn't care about a single one of them because none of them were _alive_.

Right now, she was much more interested in Hank. HN800, serial number #313 248 317 - 51, wasn't alive... Yet. The last time she'd gotten this close to seeing a breakthrough first-hand, she hadn't been ready, she hadn't even thought of keeping a close enough eye on the very first deviant.

And then she'd woken up one day and Rose had vanished in the night.

For now, though, that didn't matter. A thousand failures and one rogue subject in pursuit of true, immortal godhood, the ability to create everlasting life…

Her hands jittered to a halt, hovering above the keypad, as she watched Lieutenant Connor Anderson lightly elbow Hank. The internal data feed on her screen lit up, just like she'd been hoping, a confusing mess full of chaos, and, and…

Chloe hunched forward again, typing even faster.

It was almost time.

✩

A glass shattered upstairs, but Markus had been told not to move.

Don't go anywhere.

Stay there.

You'll get wrecked worse than _last time_.

Androids weren't supposed to be able to feel pain. That was the official party line rolled out by CyberLife, their official declaration. But some people wanted an android that could feel pain. Some of them wanted that feedback, the shriek when glass broke skin, the ability to kill something that wasn't alive at all.

And once humans learned what that felt like, once they got tired of that feeling, some of them started killing each other again.

Markus's eyes darted upwards when he heard another scream — a reflex he hadn't even known he had. It was like there were barriers around him, penning him in, making him completely unable to move no matter how much he flinched at Alice's screams.

Life at the Williams family house just didn't make sense to him. Alice was a little girl, and as far as he knew, little kids should have a nurturing, loving environment to live in and help them grow up healthy. But all the food in the house had been past expiration date, with Red Ice stashed somewhere she easily could've found it accidentally, and all her clothes had holes in them…

He wasn't supposed to pass judgement. Until now, he hadn't known that he _could_ , but Alice didn't deserve anything nearly this bad.

She was a wonderful little girl, one who seemed to love drawing so much that it made Markus want to learn how to draw, a natural-born artist who'd trusted him and warned him and who needed his help.

Alice needed someone, and for now, she had Markus. That had to mean _something_.

Glancing around, trying to think of a way to break free, his gaze passed over the empty hole where their front gate used to be.

"Yeah," Leo had said over dinner, his mouth twisted up in a dismissive scowl, "A truck crashed through the fence and I never got it repaired. Who cares?"

A truck. A truck had crashed through the wall, and they weren't supposed to… But it had.

So maybe he could break past this barrier, too.

Markus pushed against the walls, reaching out with his mind and focusing on Leo's distant howls of rage. White noise filled his ears, nearly drowning everything out and keeping him stuck in place, but he pushed and pushed and pushed, until —

With a blink, he realized he had stumbled forward. The walls were gone. The static had faded. Markus took a step, and then another, and the _need_ to stay where he had been stayed gone.

His heart in his throat — a 100% anatomically incorrect saying he'd never understood until now — he ran to save Alice.

✩

"Punch harder," North instructed. "Put all your force behind it."

There was a routine to Kara's daily life.

Power on automatically in the morning, carry North to her wheelchair, take her to and from physical therapy, pick up a week's worth of groceries, sort through the mail, listen to North's advice about which parts of the human body were the most vulnerable to attack, make dinner…

All of it — _almost_ all of it — was normal.

She figured the things that weren't in her job description were covered by the general function of tolerating whatever her bored, cooped-up retired boxer of an employer wanted her to do. Which _was_ part of her job, technically.

Right?

Maybe it wasn't conventional, exactly, by CyberLife's standards. But it was what North wanted, a request in a sea of other little things like calling herself Kara's boss or giving Kara a gigantic room with dozens of books to read if she was bored at night.

Or putting Kara in her will.

These were all the things Kara shouldn't think too hard about, things North did with a familiar ease.

In the moment, Kara offered a sly, apologetic smile.

"I'm afraid I'm not allowed to harm you, ma'am."

The boxing gloves were already on her hands, and her half-hearted shrug only made the teasing act all the more apparent, but the two of them played through this routine every time they turned up the heat.

Her short-tempered boss groaned, rolling her head back with a pout. "I know, Kara! You won't hit me, remember?"

Kara ran through the probabilities in her head again, the same precaution every time, even though she knew objectively that she _still_ wasn't fast enough to hit North. The human was practically untouchable from the waist up, and could've still been a boxer if not for…

Well, although Kara didn't really understand it, North's old league hadn't wanted to bother becoming wheelchair-accessible.

(There was a 95.02% chance that they'd refused to do it because they'd known North would still "beat all of their asses", as North put it.)

"C'mon," she pleaded. "Let's get going, Kara, some of us are literally dying over here!"

Satisfied with the calculations, Kara dropped back into the fighting stance and swung.

And then the doorbell rang.

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by that very good human connor/ android hank fanart thats been all over twitter ♡ i want to write more in this au, it was a lot of fun!
> 
> but more importantly im slightly wasted and i want to duel david cage with my fists


End file.
